BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- With
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a possible Republican hopeful for president in
2016, set
to speak in Montgomery Friday night, those who disagree with him and his
party took to Birmingham's Linn Park to talk about what they feel are the
failures of the GOP and "red state" policies.

"We just
wanted him to know how awful his decision is to balance his state's budget on the
backs of his state's working families," Alabama AFL-CIO President Al Henley
said, referring to a law Walker signed in 2011 reducing collective bargaining
rights for state employees.

The event
was also to promote a radio
town hall meeting Friday night to be hosted by MSNBC television host Ed
Schultz and focusing on education, jobs and health care in the "red state" of
Alabama. The event, at the Sheraton Birmingham, is set to start at 7 p.m.

Richard
Franklin, the president of the Birmingham chapter of the American Federation of
Teachers, focused on education policies passed by the Republican-controlled
Alabama legislature, including the Alabama Accountability Act. He also
questioned recent
cuts to Birmingham City Schools, including changes that affected nurses and
paraprofessionals.

"How did you
do it for the children when you hurt the children?" he said.

The group
gathered at Linn Park included people who came out in support of local labor
unions, including the United Mine Workers of America, and those who backed
Planned Parenthood.

The CEO of
Planned Parenthood of the Southeast, Staci Cox, targeted attacks against the
Affordable Care Act, which she said would expand the access women have to
things like birth control.

"Obamacare
works," she said.

UMWA
District 20 Vice President Daryl Dewberry went after Gov. Robert Bentley in
particular, saying Bentley's administration doesn't care about keeping
well-paying jobs in Alabama.

"He could
care less about working people," Dewberry said. "He wants to see us working for
fish heads and rice."

Bubba
Englebert, a coal miner from Tuscaloosa, said he made the trip with other
miners but that the crowd wasn't as big as he hoped, though he acknowledged how
hard it was to show up for people who work 60 hours a week.